Otolaryngology Online Journal

Esophageal Carcinoma in Indonesia

Esophageal cancer is included in seven out of the ten malignancies resulting in death in the world. The incidence of esophageal cancer in Indonesia is estimated still low and there has been little research on the characteristics of esophageal cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the characteristics of patients with esophageal carcinoma. This was a retrospective descriptive study of data obtained from medical records of patients with esophageal carcinoma who had been treated at the tertiary hospital from 2012 to 2014. Most patients were males (75%) and aged from 61–65 years (30%). The histopathologic type was squamous cell carcinoma in 35% of cases and adenocarcinoma in 65%; 65% of carcinomas were moderately differentiated. Sixty percent of the esophageal carcinomas originated in the distal third of the esophagus. No metastases were identified in 85% of cases, whereas metastases were detected in the remaining 15%. The most common characteristics of Indonesian patients with esophageal carcinoma were male and age 61–65 years, the most common histopathologic type was adenocarcinoma, and most cancers were locally advanced at diagnosis.